Welcome to an Engaged Community

There's a better way to personalize your website experience. With myConnection, the profile you create allows you to set up a unique starting point for the tasks and transactions that you want to complete in your time on this website. Use myConnection to gather the information that you most care about from across this website into one central location, giving you greater control over how you connect with your community.

The goal of Iowa's Groundwater Protection Act was to prevent further contamination of groundwater. Abandoned wells offer a direct pathway for contaminants to enter a groundwater aquifer. Some large diameter wells can also be a safety hazard to people or animals who can fall into well casings.

Any water supply well that is no longer in use or is in such poor physical condition that it cannot be repaired to be safely used must be plugged. This applies to all wells including public drinking water wells, monitoring wells, commercial wells, private wells and irrigation wells.

Abandoned wells can either be plugged, renovated, or repaired to standby condition. A well in standby condition has been repaired and capped to prevent contamination, but can be operational at the time when the cap is removed. Each of these options meets the goal of protecting the groundwater from contamination and people or animals from physical harm.

Currently there is a grant program in which you may be eligible for cost share reimbursement help to close your abandoned well. The Grants-to-Counties program is funded by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and administered by the Iowa Department of Public Health. Through this grant program, the property owner could qualify for cost share funding of up to $500 per well plugged.

It is necessary to contact the Story County Environmental Health Department prior to plugging the well to qualify for funding. When plugging a well, the property owner must complete and submit IDNR Form 542-1226 Abandoned Water Well Plugging Record to the Story County Environmental Health Department. This information will be logged into Iowa's well tracking system for future reference.